Sunday Dish

The New Mexico Saga Draws to an End

My blog is pretty new in the scheme of things.  I have a few regular readers (mostly family and friends, I gather) and some newcomers who check in regularly.  I do enjoy that!   Thanks to all who come back to see what we're dishing about here.

Anyway, an ongoing saga since the beginning of the blog revolves around our travels to New Mexico over this past Spring and Summer. I will not go into it here, but if you'd like a little back story you can get your fill right here people.

I'm happy to say we're officially in countdown mode.  In less then 3 weeks my handsome cohort is finally coming home.  After 5 long months, the prodigal son returns!!!  It seems real now and I'm starting to let myself get excited.   So to commemorate the countdown, I've put together a little photo album that will run on Sunday Dish for the next few months.   These are the highlights, in food and drink, you might say.

In time, those of you who stop by will get to know Todd, and his cooking, much, much better.

So, for your viewing pleasure: 

The Old Adventures of New Mexico.

New Mexico - Times 3

I've been quite remiss in posting over the last week.  I looked up today and realized I'm at least 3 posts behind!  I've been busy, trying to squeeze some fun out of this summer.  My handsome cohort is working in New Mexico.  You can check out the whole "back story" by clicking here.  

Last week I went out for my 3rd and possibly last visit to ol' New Mexico.  There may be one more squeezed in for good measure, but then again, there might not be.  I haven't been super quiet about my dislike for Albuquerque (or ABQ).  It's just not my cup of tea.   But let me start by saying something positive.  This statement is best show in pictures:

The sky is ABQ is quite often stunning.  This was taken while we were in the car on our way to a town in NM that is a bit more to my liking - Santa Fe.

For this little overnight trip, we dreamed of sitting poolside, sipping fruity drinks.  Thanks to the crazy summer weather, that really didn't happen.  But Todd and I aren't ones to let a little weather get in our way.   

We first stopped in at our hotel La Posada de Santa Fe.

The grounds were very pretty and the customer service lovely.  The rooms are a bit pricey (in the $300 range) for what you get, but then again, all of Santa Fe is a bit pricey.

Then we went for a walk and decided to check out the roof top bar at one of the most famous hotels in town:  La Fonda on the Plaza.

The rooftop bar is wide open with great views and a pretty decent margarita.

After that our intention was to grab a bite at another famous Santa Fe spot "The Shed."  Unfortunately, as Angelenos we are very spoiled in the sense that we feel entitled to eat wherever we want, whenever we want.  Those pesky Santa Fe-ans don't feel the same way.  In fact, they see no problem at all in closing down between lunch and dinner (what, are we in Italy now?)  Good for them, bad for us.  Maybe we should take a page out of their book.

So, we "punted" as Todd would say and went back to the hotel.  As you can see in the picture above the sun wasn't shining, but by the time we got back to the hotel it was down right windy and spitting rain.  So instead of sitting in our bathing suits by the pool, we were stuck inside the restaurant bar called the Staab House listening to a HORRIBLE, bad 80's rock track.  Needles?  In my eyes?  Yes.

Luckily, they had a nice wine list, a cozy atmosphere complete with fireplace, and a good appetizer selection.  We got their "Choice of Four Appetizers", for $18.

The ahi was good quality but could have been seasoned better.  The cheese selection was nice if a tad uninspiring.  The Crusted Goat Cheese with prosciutto was better and the Fried almonds and olives were quite tasty.

At that point I was determined to sit  by that damn pool no matter what.  So we took our wine outside and soaked in the jacuzzi instead.

After a relaxing soak we headed back to the room and lit our very own little kiva fireplace.

I guess the crappy weather came in handy after all!  How's that for a positive spin on things.

After getting ready for dinner...

(we do enjoy our primping) we set out for a little place we'd spotted while walking around town earlier:  La Boca.

This is what the place looks by day and by night.

I won't go into a long drawn out review of la boca, suffice it to say, we loved it and if we are ever back in Santa Fe, will certainly go back.

We had the clams which we liked.  The sauce had a great orange infused flavor, but we did wish it had been reduced more so as to be a bit richer and thicker.  We also had the baked eggplant.  Boy, this dish was rich.  Covered in cheese and capers it was super filling.  What we didn't photograph was the flatiron steak.  At this point we were too busy having fun chatting up the bartender.  But the dish was cooked perfectly.  We were sitting at the bar (see photo) which we like to do when possible.  You often get the more seasoned staff members working at the bar, and bonus, sometimes you get to meet the chef, which we did on that night when we came out to make himself a cocktail at the end of his shift.  We told him how much we enjoyed the meal.  He then proceeded to bring out a plate of prosciutto and caper berries for us.  We felt like honored guests.  It was the capper of the evening. 

The next day, we wanted to try lunch at Pasquale's, but the wait would have been about an hour and we were ready to head home.  Instead we hit Maria's on the way out of town. 

It was good, once again.  This time I had the blue corn enchiladas and Todd had the trio of tacos.  Those went down quite nicely with a couple of their famous hand blended margaritas.

From there we headed back to the ABQ.  In the morning, as sad as I was to be leaving Todd, I was happy to be headed home.  Southern California may not be perfect, but it's our home and we love it.

Coming up next a couple of great salads I whipped up for my Dad.

 

Cookin' it up New Mexican Style - or something like that.

Day 3 in New Mexico and it just happens to be a Sunday. 
Sunday, for us, means one thing, time to cook.

We also have guests to feed, Todd's cohorts on his big NM adventure.  They are all living in the same apartment building and all missing the comforts of home.  Cooking is always more fun when you have someone to do it for.

One of Todd's favorite things to make, it's a tradition on Monday nights during football season, is Mexican food.  We usually have a varying combo of a standard line up of ingredients (guacamole, meat of some kind, cheese etc.) But the one thing that never varies is Todd's Pico de Gallo.  It is so simple, and that's what's great about it.  What's even better, is that it lasts in the fridge for at least a week.  It's perfect to scoop in scrambled eggs in the morning, or over a salad in the afternoon. 
So I'll  start off by giving you the recipe for Todd's "Soon to be Famous Pico de Gallo"...(I feel like there should be a drum roll or something right here...)

Ingredients:

1 each:  green, yellow, red, orange bell pepper - diced
1 large white onion - diced
1 -7 oz. can diced green chilis
  1 or 2 jalapeno - minced (optional -we leave it out if the kids are going to be eating with us)
1 bunch of cilantro - chopped
2 cloves of garlic - minced
salt & pepper to taste
juice of 2 or 3 limes

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl.  If possible let sit a couple of hours before serving.

To go with our Pico, we marinated skirt steak in orange juice, olive oil, a little tequila, salt, pepper, cumin, garlic and chili powder.  Then we grilled it up along with these lovely little veggies...(peppers and onions)

We also doctored up a can of black beans with onions, cilantro, peppers and cheese.
   
When you put it all together you've got a simple (sort of New Mexican) meal.

   

MUY BUENO

Out of Albuquerque and on to Santa Fe!

On this day I'm starting to get excited...

Really looking forward to heading out of Albuquerque.  I love being on the road with Todd, with no real schedule, except to have a fun day exploring.  It's perfect.   We head up  to Sante Fe via Route 14, also known as the Turquoise Trail. 

The road was pretty - reminding me of much of the Californian desert landscape.  We cruised by little towns called Cerillos, Madrid and Golden.  And you really have to keep your head on a swivel or poof!  You'll drive right past them. 

Todd and I love the history of places and we love taking photos so we were excited about seeing these old mining/ghost towns.  Unfortunately, for us, there wasn't much to make us want to stop and linger.  We pressed on and by Noon were parking the car in Santa Fe.

First mission of the day? Finding a place to have a late breakfast/early lunch.  It was pretty quiet, not alot of people on the street.  After wandering around we came across a this little roof top cantina.

The Coyote Cafe is the main restaurant with it's own menu.   It is apparently quite famous in these parts, who knew?  (I hadn't done a ton of research on this part of the country, instead preferring to go on instinct and friends recommendations.)  We didn't try anything at the restaurant, but the choices on the menu looked creative, and they had the prices to match it.  We headed upstairs to the cantina instead, where we could sit outside and check out the view.

We found a seat in the sun and after our decidedly hippie, free love, artsy waitress came by, we ordered a bloody mary.  The menu said it has 11 ingredients and is made with cucumber infused vodka, I'm intrigued.
  It looked pretty and the taste lived up to it's good looks.  This is one of the yummiest bloodies that I've ever had.  It wasn't too thick and you could really taste the cucumber in the vodka, which lent a nice fresh touch.  It had a really Tex-Mex flavor to it, with a hint of cumin maybe?  Todd guessed there was a bit of fresh salsa added to the mix as well.  Whatever the combo, I thought it was muis bueno.   Anyway - we wanted to hit more then one restaurant while in Santa Fe, so we ordered one dish and split it, so that we could save our appetites for another joint a friend of ours had recommended.  We went for the Duck Quesadilla.

Apparently, they are well known for this as well!  Ignorance is bliss I suppose.  The avocado cream dipping sauce was slightly sweet with a good spicy kick at the end.  There were two kinds of cheese, gooey and mellow yumminess,  and then there was the duck.  It had a  nice smoky flavor, but it was a tad too chewy for me.   I wouldn't say it ruined the quesadilla but it didn't enhance it, that's for sure.

From there we walked around and did what you do in Santa Fe.  Checked out the art galleries, shopped for silver and turquoise and pottery, checked out the art galleries, went to the Georgia O'Keeffe Museum, and oh, checked out the art galleries.   Eating, art and jewelry.  If that's your cup 'o tea, then get  your ass to Santa Fe stat!

All kidding aside, we really enjoyed ourselves.  It was peaceful and pretty.  The people we met were very nice, although they all got little looks of horror on their faces when we mentioned we were from Los Angeles.  You could tell they took pity on we poor city dwellers who had to put up with noise, and people, and all those awful things.

After about 3 hours we were ready for our next meal.  That led us out of old town, and down the road about 3 miles, to Maria's. 

Maria's is a dark, cavernous kind of place with 3 or 4 dining rooms.  We were led toward the back room where there were a handful of tables and a small bar. We got our lunch menus and our margarita menu right away.  Check out this margarita menu...

This is just the front cover.  All in all there were more then 100 different kinds of margaritas in this menu.  There weren't a bunch of crazy fruity concoctions on the pages either, no.  Just margaritas made with different grades of tequila.  Thanks to a vacation in Mexico, over a decade ago, where I became intimately familiar with "Tequila Poppers" , I don't drink alot tequila and don't know much about it.  Apparently there is some seriously high quality stuff, because there were margaritas on this baby for more than 50 bucks.  The prices ranged from $6.00 and up and averaged out around $10 or $11.
 
Here's a little link you can check out if you want to learn more about Tequila

We went with Mama's Special Margarita, $6.  Call me cheap, whatever.  That's okay, I figured it's better to not make a huge commitment right out of the gate.
 
I know I just said I don't drink alot of tequila, but this really was so delicious, and considering my hard won aversion, I'm hard to please.  Todd liked it too, and he has tried many a margarita in his day.
To go with our margi's I got the Pork Tamales and Todd got the Posole.

My chief complaint with tamales, and the reason that I normally don't order them, is that there is always too much masa and not enough filling.   These were exactly the opposite.  They were stuffed with pork and the masa added to the flavor rather then overpowering it.  But the best part?  The red and green chili sauce.  It came with a choice, but when I couldn't decide, our very kind waitress suggested I just get both.  A woman after my own heart.

I tend to like green sauces first and I did love this one.  But the more I dipped into the red the more I liked it.  It was spicy, but not too spicy, smoky and had just the right amount of chili powder.  It really got better with every bite.  I've sort of glossed over the beans and rice that came with, 'cause honestly, they were pretty average.  But that's okay because the yumminess of the tamale out shined them.
   
Here's Todd's Posole.  First the good news; it had a great flavor, the broth was rich and there were tender little chunks of pork floating about - a perfect hangover remedy, I would imagine.  The bad news?  A little heavy handed on the hominy.  A bit less, definitely would have been more.  Also, I've had posole before where they give you lots of yummy fixin's to go with it:  radishes, cilantro, onions etc.  I sort of missed that.  But there was one thing that made of for it...sopaipilla.

These little fried, puffy breads were so comforting and yummy.  Dipped in the chili sauces, the posole or even drizzled with a little honey, they are carby perfection.

With our bellies full, we bid adieu to Santa Fe and headed back south to ABQ.  Along they way we decided that cooking up our own version of a Mexican meal would be in order for the next day and so we planned.

Until then...

High and Dry in Albuquerque - Part 2, Day 1.

The saga continues...

Sitting on the plane - headed back to the Albuquerque desert.  Yes,  it must be love.  I can think of no other single thing that would draw me back here.

Look, I'm a firm believer in diversity.  As my dear old friend Vanessa says (in relation to relationships- but still, it applies here) "there is a lid for every jar."  I can see why people are drawn to the desert, to the starkness of it all. I don't want to put down anybodies hometown, truly.  And I do count myself lucky to say there is another place on this Earth that I have been blessed to see.  But there is not much about Albuquerque that would make me yearn to come back again.

Having said all that...here I am.  Sitting on a plane winging my way back. 

Forecast?  Windy and dry with a chance of gut wrenching turbulence.   But, on this day, the Gods have smiled upon me.  Two bloody mary's later I am on the ground and looking upon the face of my love.   Food, on this day, was not of the utmost concern.  We were just anxious to spend some serious quality time together.

But upon waking the next day - there was food to be had and basketball to be watched. 
Normally, I tend to be the one to make executive decisions about where we'll eat.  But for the time being, I was content to drift along with popular opinion.  And when it comes to basketball, well,  beer is in order.   Which led us to a place about a mile down the road.

Chama River Brewery is, not surprisingly, a brew pub.  Here in Southern California we have BJ's.  Same kind of deal.  It's a burger, ribs and fries kind of place.  A few televisions going and of course the beer. 

I enjoyed how they described their brews in the same way wineries explain a fine vintage:  "Light and dry with a touch of honey sweetness and a floral bouquet finish."    That's how they talked up their Broken Spoke Honey Wheat Ale. 

I liked it.  I'm a big fan of the Strawberry Blonde beer that Pete's Wicked Ale makes, and I thought it was a bit like that. 

Our basketball viewing cohort, Dave, tried the Copper John Pale Ale which he said was good and Todd took a liking to the Chama River Amber Ale.

To go with our beer we got an order of the Truffle Bleu Cheese Fries.

Okay.  I'm not gonna lie, my expectations were not high and I was pleasantly surprised.  A good French Fry?  Stop it.  I'm done.  Yummy.  Delicious.  Goodness.  These were mixed with bleu cheese, scallions and truffle oil.  If they had been a tad bit crispier they would have been French Fry Heaven.  As it stood, they were still pretty damn tasty.

Since it was a burger and fry kind of place, we in turn, ordered a burger and a Po Boy for the table.
   
Again, I'm down with the love of diversity. But a po boy?  Fried shrimp on a bun?  Seriously?  It's just not the kind of thing I'd ever think to order.  But, it looked pretty good. The sweet potato fries were definitely yummy, yes they were.  And Dave seemed to think that the Po boy didn't suck at all.  Good enough for me.

I went for the Green Chili Burger.

I will say this, it was cooked to a perfect medium rare and the green chilies were great.  The spiced pecans they put on the side salad that came with the burger were a nice touch.  Is it going to win best meal of the year award?  Nope.  But it was fresh, satisfying, and all in all, a tasty trio of beer, burger and fries. 

After that food fest, dinner was going to have to be light.

As I prepped for round 2 of my Albuquerque adventure, I had visions of New Mexican food.  Piquant chili sauces and traditional carne adovada.  This would have to wait until another day.

On this night, after a good hot shower and a nice long nap, we were craving a little pizza.  It was 10pm by the time we were finally ready for dinner so there weren't alot of choices. We landed at a chain called Bravo Cucina Italiana. 

If I were to relate it, once more, to a Southern Cali staple, I'd say it's like Macaroni Grill.  There are about 40 of these chains sprinkled across the country but this was my first time.
Their Fennel and Arugula Salad with Buffalo Mozzarella was better in concept then execution.  It had roasted tomatoes and a light vinaigrette.  I thought the fennel would have added to the salad better had they roasted it instead of serving it raw.  But the pizza we ordered was another story altogether.

This was really good.  It was topped with Fontina cheese, generous amounts of portabella mushrooms and finished off with a nice drizzle of truffle oil. (I guess they like the truffle oil here in ABQ.) I have to mention the crust because it was delicious.

I've heard it's a cities water that makes or breaks pizza crust.  If so, there must be something in the water here that lends it's self to good crust, 'cause this is the 2nd exceptionally good pizza I've had in this town.  (the first being at Il Vicino in Nob Hill.)

With the pizza and the salad behind us it was time to call it a night.  The plan for the next day was to head out to Santa Fe and see what culinary delights we might stumble upon there.

Stay tuned!